Michael Raffl again out of Flyers’ lineup
The winger, one of the Flyers' most productive players in this year's postseason, missed his third straight game Tuesday because of an apparent injury.
Michael Raffl must not be 100 percent healthy.
For the third straight game, the winger was not in the lineup as the Flyers tried to stave off elimination when they faced the New York Islanders on Tuesday in Toronto.
Like all coaches during the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Flyers’ Alain Vigneault is not talking about injuries. He would not comment on Raffl’s availability or whether he was injured. Raffl did not participate in the Flyers’ pregame skate Sunday, a sign he probably wasn’t healthy.
He participated in Tuesday’s morning skate, but was not in the lineup.
This summer, Raffl, 31, has quietly been one of the Flyers’ most productive postseason performers when healthy.
Despite playing in just seven of the team’s 13 postseason games entering Tuesday, Raffl was tied for second on the Flyers with three goals, and he led the team with two game-winning tallies.
Lindblom still out
Oskar Lindblom took part in Tuesday’s morning skate and pregame warm-ups but was not in the Flyers’ lineup.
Lindblom has spent most of the season battling a rare bone cancer, and he hasn’t played since Dec. 7.
Vigneault said Lindblom was a “few days away here. But he’s closing in.”
“Oskar’s working extremely hard to get back to help our team,” Vigneault said in a Tuesday afternoon Zoom call with reporters. “... I’ve rarely seen a young man put himself through what he’s putting himself through right now. He already had to put himself through everything to get healthy. Now, the steps that he’s taking to do everything he can to come back as quick as he can — and healthy, and in shape — is amazing.”
Breakaways
Early in Game 5, winger Tyler Pitlick was playing on the Flyers’ No. 2 line, centered by Kevin Hayes, and Travis Konecny was dropped to the third line. Konecny was looking for his first goal of the postseason. ... As expected, Carter Hart and the Islanders’ Semyon Varlamov returned to their respective nets after getting a rest Sunday, the second night of back-to-back games. Heading into the game, Hart had a 2.08 GAA and a .931 save percentage in the postseason, while Varlamov had a 1.69 GAA and a .935 save percentage. ... Hart was in one of his team’s first potential elimination games of his young career. ... Including the regular season, the Flyers entered the night with just one win in seven games against the Isles in 2019-20.